Algerian Sentenced to Death after Killing Family

A man has been sentenced to death in northern Algeria for killing his father, stepmother and four half-brothers two years ago.

A man has been sentenced to death in northern Algeria for killing his father, stepmother and four half-brothers two years ago, Le Quotidien d'Oran reported Sunday.

The 40-year-old used to live with his aunt in Oran, but went to visit his father from time to time. On one such visit he slit the throats of his four half-brothers and then did the same thing to his stepmother and father when they came to find out what was going on.

There was no apparent motive for the killings.

The sentence was handed down by a court in Relizane, 300 kilometers (180 miles) west of Algiers.

Though courts in Algeria use the death penalty it is rarely carried out. The last time was in October 1993, when 13 Islamic extremists from armed groups fighting the secular authorities were executed – ALGIERS (AFP)